Vickerman proud of game-winning effort

Melbourne United Head Coach Dean Vickerman has praised his team’s composure down the stretch to secure a two-point victory on the road against the Sydney Kings.

While United were able to pull ahead by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, a pair of runs from the Kings threatened to send the visitors home with a second consecutive road loss.

Despite this, Melbourne were able to hold on, never trailing and ultimately finding the game-winning basket from Jack White with two-second remaining.

Speaking after the game, Vickerman touched on his side’s strong play to start the game and composure in the biggest moments.

“It’s the first quarter that you want,” Vickerman explained.

“Hold a team to 16 on their home floor, just the perfect way for us to come out and start. The attention to detail in the scout and we obviously put some points on the board as well… There’s a big upside to what we’re doing but I think part of what we wanted to achieve tonight offensively was to attack the paint more.

“That’s what I’m really proud of… we were under threat and we composed ourselves and then obviously under threat again and we execute to get a win. A lot of positives to come away from this one.”

White, who scored a career-high 23 points in the contest, said that these are the sort of games he loves to be a part of.

“These are the games that you play basketball for, where you’re on the road and you see what you’re made of,” White said.

“We’re in a bit of a rough patch at the minute and we’re trying to claw our way out of it. We knew it was going to take everyone and to have these sort of matchups and come out of here with a win and fight their late push at the end of the game is definitely satisfying.”

United will hit the road for their fourth straight away game on Monday 13 January for a clash with the New Zealand Breakers.

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